FAYETTEVILLE — The plays that defined Arkansas football in 2008 — the ones that spelled the difference between a bowl berth and a losing record — were the ones the Razorbacks failed to execute.

A Michael Smith fumble at the 1-yard line, a penalty on a Casey Dick touchdown run and a De’Anthony Curtis fumble turned what looked like a certain victory into a crushing loss against Kentucky.

In the Ole Miss game, Shay Haddock’s missed field goal and London Crawford’s twohand touch on a defensive back helped spell the difference between a loss and a victory.

Last week against Mississippi State, it was another series of unmade plays — two missed field goals by Alex Tejada and shoddy tackling all around — that prevented the Razorbacks from a shot at a victory.

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“It does tell you how close it is between winning and losing,” first-year Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said.

Defining the difference between a victory and a loss isn’t as easy as 1-2-3, but that’s Arkansas’ margin of loss in those three games: 21-20 at Kentucky, 23-21 vs. Ole Miss and 31-28 at Mississippi State.

Reversing the outcome in two of those games would leave Arkansas bowl eligible today. Make the key plays in all three games and Petrino would be hailed as delivering a quality Razorbacks product ahead of schedule.

Instead, those losses doomed the Razorbacks (4-7, 1-6 SEC ) to no postseason and a potential lastplace finish in the SEC going into Friday’s season finale against LSU in Little Rock.

“It’s been a roller coaster with the ups and downs,” Arkansas All-America center Jonathan Luigs said. “You get a big win one week against Auburn, then you go and have two heartbreaking losses back to back. It’s been tough.

“ A few plays one way and we could be looking at postseason play.”

The question is whether there are quantifiable reasons for what defined the victories and the losses.

The transition to new systems on offense and defense is a factor. Up-and-down play from Dick, who was asked to be a game-deciding quarterback for the first time in his career, also played a role. Arkansas’ relative lack of size and heavy hitters on defense, as well as a thin depth chart, had a hand in it. The extreme youth of the Razorbacks also cannot be discounted.

“I think sometimes your inexperience shows up in the close games,” Petrino said. “Like in the Kentucky game, for instance, there’s probably seven plays in that game where one play, one thing, makes the difference whether you win or lose.

“ It’s learning how to focus on one play at a time and understand that my job is important on this particular play.”

Without question, the Razorbacks are young. Arkansas’ starting lineup chart reveals 69 starts by freshmen — 43 of them by true freshmen — in the 11 games. On defense, freshmen have made 46 starts, and true freshmen accounted for 25. The Razorbacks have played 16 true freshmen — tied for the highest number in the SEC — and 10 of them have made starts.

“We wanted to win and wanted to win now, but us being so young, we learned a lot this year,” receiver Lucas Miller said. “With the losses that we took, we know we can win those games, and going into next year we know what we’ve got to do now to win.”

In three games, five or more freshmen started on defense, including six in the Razorbacks’ victory over Louisiana-Monroe.

As Petrino pointed out, most of Arkansas’ games — outside the three-game stretch against Alabama, Texas and Florida, currently ranked Nos. 1, 2 and 4 in the BCS standings — have been tightrope walks at crunch time.

“We could easily have seven wins here and we could easily have zero, you know, because the four wins we had were all close too,” he said. “So, with experience we hope to gain where we can win all the close games.”

Winning all the close games is the mark of a championship contender. By going green with a roster full of underclassmen, Arkansas hopes the mistakes and errors of today turn into the successes of tomorrow.

“I think you’re encouraged with how many young players who have played, how many young players who have made big plays,” offensive coordinator Paul Petrino said. “They’ve gotten all that experience and played a whole bunch, and just all the guys you have coming back that have produced and put up big plays, that part of it is real encouraging.”

Another component for having an edge in tight games, Bobby Petrino believes, is having a sturdy rushing game with backs who can pound on tired defenders in the fourth quarter. Tailback Michael Smith has been the Razorbacks’ top playmaker this season, but the 5-7, 170-pounder will never be confused with a big, bruising back.

“We did know going into the season that a lot of games were going to come down to the fourth quarter,” Bobby Petrino said. “I think what really hurts us is we’re not the powerful running team in the fourth quarter that you need to be to win those close games and keep the other team on the sideline.

“ That kind of seems to be what’s happening to us more, and then we have to throw it around. You’d like to play it just the opposite.”